We Are At War

Hello friends and family from Romania! Where there is a war going on, but truth be told where you are there is a war going on as well. I have been doing a lot of reading, thinking, experiencing and praying of the war that is present in us, amongst us, and around us. It is a topic that has kept popping up and I think it is very timely with a few different things that we are living through here.

I have lived a life ignoring the war that is happening and maybe a bit oblivious to it as well. I watched the Conjuring 3 a couple months ago. I know, why are missionaries going to see a horror film? But I am reminded of a quote from that movie that states; “The Court accepts the existence of God, every time a witness swears to tell the truth. I think it’s about time they accept the existence of the devil.” It is time we start acknowledging the existence of the devil. Yeah, we would admit the devil is real, but do we acknowledge how hard he works to destroy us. The book that I am reading currently titled “Winning the War in Your Mind” written by Craig Groeschel, spoke directly to this and the problem it creates: “The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world that he doesn’t exist. satan doesn’t want you to believe in him, so he works subtly. he knows that if you ignore him, he can invade your mind with impunity. he can plant seeds of doubt, confusion, worry, depression, and anxiety that will continue to grow.”

“satan despises you with more hatred than you can imagine. He wants to keep you from God and the life God has for you. he wants to keep you from intimate relationships with those you love most. he wants to rob you of inner joy and abiding peace. he wants to strip you of the fulfillment you could have in knowing you are making a difference with your life.” (Groeschel) The enemy has been seeking to kill and destroy since the very beginning. Genesis 3:1: “Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. he said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?”” From the very beginning the enemy was getting inside of our heads to question what God has to offer. God had offered the whole world and himself to Adam and Eve. Everything they could have ever wanted was theirs. However, the serpent was still able to convince Eve that sin offers more life. I am sure he was creative and crafty enough to know that by convincing Eve he would get Adam to cave as well because well us humans like to place a significant other above the Creator of the universe.

“Your mind is a battlefield, and the battle for your life is always won or lost in your mind.” (Groeschel) satan is trying to get a hold of your mind and place strongholds there that will keep you from the freedom Christ offers. We absolutely need to recognize lies that are in our heads. Don’t let the enemy have control of your mind because you can’t recognize the lies he is placing in there. Remove the lies that are in your head and replace them with truth. Philippians 4:8: “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” Fill your mind with truth. Your voice does matter. People do care about you. You are loved. You are smart. You do have something to offer. You are talented. You will break free of that stronghold. You will be free of depression and anxiety. I can have 1 on 1 conversation. My voice does matter. People back home do care about me. What I am doing is making a difference. My prayers are heard. I am capable of being a strong man. I am capable of being a good husband. I will be a fantastic father. The time I take to write these blogs does make an impact.

What truths do you need to insert to replace lies that are in your head?? “A lie believed as truth will affect your life as if it were true.” “What we think will determine who we become tomorrow.” “We don’t think about the power of our thoughts, which only makes them that much more powerful.” (Groeschel) Our thought life is so important and has such a large impact on you. Your thought life is 24/7, so how would it not have the most control on your life.

Let’s get ready for war. “You are not his prisoner of war, unless you choose to be.” If you don’t prepare to fight the enemy is ready to plant his flag in there and make you his prisoner. If you are going to fight it has to be all day every day. 1 Peter 5:8: “Be sober-minded; be watchful. You adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” he is always waiting for an opening to trick, lie, and deceive you. So, you need to always be ready for those attacks. 1 Thessalonians 5:6: “So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober.” Be ready, stay sober, stay watchful when you are tired, be mindful of when your mind is clouded with frustration, and take every thought captive. 2 Corinthians 10:5: “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”

You are not your sin; sin is no longer the truest thing about the man who has come into union with Jesus. You are a new creation in Christ.” (Wild at Heart, John Eldredge) You are created new! Stop believing lies. Stop letting sin have a hold on you. Move forward in truth and as a son or daughter of God. Let’s get this war in our mind figured out. Let’s know how to combat the schemes of the devil. Ephesians 6:13-17: “Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”

Truth: God loves you a lot!! He created you for a purpose! He died for you so that you can live freely! He does forgive your sins! He is good.

THERE’S MORE TO THE WAR

Now that you hopefully know the importance of taking back control of your mind from the enemy let’s go to the next phase of this war because it is not just in your mind. Here in Romania things are dark. Like very spiritually heavy. In fact, if I heard the numbers correctly either there is only .5% of the 300,000 people in this city or of the 4 million in the region that are saved. That’s point 5 if you missed the decimal. On top of that the capital of witchcraft is here in Craiova I think of Romania, but likely up there with the whole world. People who practice witchcraft came from all over the world a few years back for an international conference. On our street is at least one house that practices witchcraft. They keep a cage of birds on their roof in preparation for sacrifice. A couple of kids that are attending a youth camp next week have already started practicing witchcraft. The enemy has his flag planted in this city and it is going to take a lot to capture it, but God can, and we are praying God will.

I got to go into the community a few days ago to pray over certain districts in this town to hear what God says about that space and if ministry is ready to begin there. I have never been super aware of areas that are heavy spiritually but being here and walking in those areas I definitely felt the heaviness of the enemy’s presence. It was very easy to notice the absence of God in the people we were walking by. I could feel the hardened hearts I was walking by. I could feel my heart breaking just from the evil presence I was walking in. Now let me stop, in case some people are still reading and try to twist the words I just wrote. I am not saying these people are evil, or you are evil if you haven’t come to know Christ. But satan is very evil and he has a hold on this district and the people’s hearts.

Myself and eleven others on our squad have been stuck in quarantine here in Romania while the rest of the squad has been able to go out. What happened to make that happen makes absolutely no sense, so I won’t try to describe it to you. It has been a daily battle to wake up in a positive attitude willing to sit back and do the little ministry options that are presented to us while staying at our ministry house, when everybody else on our squad can connect with the community and explore the sweet city. Are we going to wake up thinking about ourselves or focused on the growth of God’s kingdom? We had an opportunity to get tested so we could get out of quarantine quicker, but when we were told that if one person tested positive not just us but the rest of our squad and ministry team would have to quarantine and have a guard making sure we weren’t leaving, it seemed clear that we needed to be kingdom minded and not risk having the ministry being done get stopped.

So, in the meantime while a lot of the squad is evangelizing in numerous ways like, basketball, giving food, handing out invites to camps, just starting conversations, and hanging with the youth, the twelve of us are trying our best to be intentional in the morning during our 1–2-hour prayer times. These morning prayer times are so very important to the ministry even if it may be hard to see. We are in a dark area so what is our greatest weapon? Prayer.

Prayer is our greatest weapon. Prayer is your greatest weapon. You want to know how to fight against the enemy and the darkness in the world, pray a lot. So, if you have made it this far. Pray. Pray against the enemy. Pray for truth. Pray for your friends, your spouse, your boss, your kids, your community, and who/what ever else needs prayer. We all were born into a world at war. Now we need people willing to fight.

Also remember to pray for your “enemies”. 2 Corinthians 10:3-4: “For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.” We are all created by God, let’s have eyes to see others as He does. satan is our enemy not people. Pray against strongholds that have had you tied down, communities tied down, and neighbors tied down.

Other ministry that I have been able to do while staying at the house has been recording a quick testimony of my drawing and mural which I posted on Instagram if you hadn’t watched it. I also have been given partial control of the Instagram for the church (@hopechurchromania) to make posts and fix up the bio. (Not all posts are me, I feel the need to clarify that)

As I was writing this blog I legit had to stop several times to pray and flush out any spirits or lies of the enemy. Numerous times I felt frustrated, annoyed, agitated, discouraged, or exhausted while trying to write this blog. You don’t think the enemy fights against you think again.

I love you all a lot!! Jesus loves you a heck of a lot more!!!!

Peace,

JD